Brush



March 28, 1961 J. HROMOKO ETAL BRUSH Filed NOV. 18. 1957 BY l Hw W7ATTORNEY 2,976,554 BRUSH John Hromoko, Lodi, and Anthony F. Verdesca,Fairview, NJ. Filed Nov. 18, 1957, Ser. No. 697,188 2 Claims. (Cl.15-167) The present invention relates to brushes.

More particularly, the present invention relates to brushes which arecapable of being manually operated. For example, the present inventionmay be applied to tooth brushes, shoe polish daubers, and the like.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a brush whichis so inexpensive that it may be economically used once and thendisposed of.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a brush which iscapable of holding a charge of material which is to be applied with thebrush. For example, in the case of a tooth brush, it is an object toprovide a tooth brush capable of holding a charge of toothpaste which isspread and applied during use of the brush.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a brush which isof extremely simple construction while at the same time being fairlyrugged and capable of brushing a desired object with considerable forceapplied to the brush.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide a brushwhich is capable of having the stiffness of its brushing portions easilyregulated.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a brusharrangement wherein a charge of material held by the brush to be spreadand applied by the latter during use of the brush may be stored in thebrush in a manner which will prevent the material from being attacked bythe atmosphere.

With the above objects in view the present invention include in a brushan elongated body of llexible resilient material formed with a cavityextending longitudinally along said body. This body of the invention hasa plurality of portions separate from each other and arranged in a rowextending longitudinally along the body, and these body portions definepart of the cavity so that a material such as toothpaste, in the lattermay pass to the exterior of the body by moving from the cavity betweenthe body portions to the exterior thereof.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for theinvention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. Theinvention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method ofoperation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, willbe best understood from the following description of specificembodiments when read in connection with the `accompanying drawings, inwhich:

Fig. l is a side elevational view of one possible embodiment of a brushaccording to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken along line 2--2 of Fig. l inthe direction of the arrows;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the brush of Fig. l shown inconjunction with a container which is adapted to hermetically seal thebrush; i I

Fig. 4 is a perspective View of a brush handle according to the presentinvention; y

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional elevational view showing how thebrush handle of'Fig. 4 cooperates with the brush portion proper of thebrush of Fig. l;

' Figo is a side elevational view of another embodiment of a brushaccording to the present invention; andV Fig. 7 is a transversesectional view of the brush of Fig. Staken along thev line 7--7 of Fig.6 in the directionof the arrows.

*LAlthough in the' description which follows reference is made to atooth brush, it is to -be understood that the invention is not limitedto tooth brushes and is equally applicable to other types of brushessuch as, for example, shoe polish daubers.

Fig. l shows a brush 10 composed of a brush body 11 and an elongatedhandle 12. The body 11 is made of a flexible resilient material, andthis material may be a plastic such as a polystyrene, polyvinylchloride,cellulose acetate, or a polyamide. However, it is preferred to make thebrush body 11 of polyethylene. As is apparent from Fig. 2, the elongatedbrush body 11 is of rectangular cross sectional configuration. The body11 is fixed at its bottom face, as viewed in Figs. l and 2, to thehandle 12 by any suitable glue or the like. Where the handle 12 is alsomade of a plastic such as polyethylene, then the handle 12 and the body1l may be bonded to each other with the use of a suitable solvent.

The body 11 is formed with an elongated cavity 13 extendinglongitudinally along the body 11 between and terminating at the endsthereof.

Furthermore, the body l1 is provided with a plurality of body portionsl@ which are separate from each other and which are arranged in a rowextending longitudinally along the body 1l as is evident from Fig. l.These portions 14 are integral with the remainder of body 11 and definepart of the cavity 13, as is evident from Figs. 1 and 2. Therefore, amaterial such as toothpaste or the like which is located in the cavity13 is capable of moving to the exterior of the body 11 by passing fromthe cavity 13 between the body portions 14. The ends of the cavity 13may be closed by a suitable closurev means such as a pair of sheetportions l5 which may be made 0f the same material as the body l1 andwhich are joined to the ends thereof as by being glued thereto. Wherethe sheet portions'lS are of the same material as the body 11 they maybe bonded thereto with a suitable solvent.

The portions 14 of the body 11 may be slightly spaced from each other soas to define between themselves gaps 16 which communicate with thematerial of the body 11, which is to say with -the cavity 13 thereof.Thus the toothpaste or the like in the cavity 13 is capable'of movingthrough the gaps lo to the exterior of the body 11. As is evident fromFig. 2, the upper free edge, as viewed in Fig. 2, of each body portion14 is provided with serrations 17 so that the intensity of the brushingaction may be increased with these serrations.

Before the closure member 15 is applied to the ends of the body l1, thecavity 13 thereof is filled with a material such as toothpaste. Then theclosure element 15 is applied. The body 11`may be xed tothe handle 12either before or after closure elements are applied to the ends of thebody l1. The brush 10 is then ready for use. When the brush body 1l ismoistened with water, the toothpaste in the cavity 13 will co-operatewith the water to start to form a foam, and this action is intensifiedduring Vuse of the brush by the flexing of the body portions 14 whichgreatly increase the foaming action while compression of the flexibleresilient body 11 during use thereof as well as the movement of the bodyportions 14 will cause the foaming material to move from4 the cavity 13between the body portions 14 to the eX- terior of the brush body 1l. lnthis way avery superior cleaning action is provided, and in fact theaction is such that the material which leaves the body 11 is essentiallyPatented Mar. 28, 1961 3 bodies 11 in a short time in a singleoperation, so that the bodies 11 are extremely inexpensive. For thisreason the brushes of the invention are capable of being economicallyused once and then being disposed of. l-f desired the brushes may beplaced in suitable dispensing machines.

In order to store in the cavity of the body 11 materials which may besensitive to the atmosphere, the body 11 together with the portion ofthe handle 12 which supports the lsame may be enclosed in a container 18shown in Fig. 3. This container takes the torni of a bag of flexibleplastic which may be transparent, and for this purpose any of the aboveplastic materials or cellophane, for example, may be used. The bag 18 isheatsealed at 19, so that the interior of the bag 18 which contains thebrush part 11 is completely closed off from the atmosphere, and theinterior of the bag 1S is suitably evacuated in any known way.

The embodiment of the invention which is illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 isof advantage in that it eliminates the necessity for closing one end ofthe brush body 11. and at the same time provides a strong reliablesupport for the brush body 1.1.. Thus, as may be seen from Fig. 4 thehandle of the brush is composed of an elongated member 20 made of anysuitable plastic and being of substantially U-shaped contiguration atits left end, as viewed in Figs. 4 and 5. This left end of the handle2t? terminates in an end portion 2,1 which is of tapered configuration.When the body 11. is joined to the handle 20 as by being glued theretoand is placed on the handle 20 in the position with respect to thehandle 2t! which is illustrated inFig. 5, the end portion 21 of thehandle 29 extends into and closes the left end of the cavity 13, as isevident from Fig. 5, so that with this arrangement it is unnecessary toprovide a separate closure element for closing one end of the cavity 13.A sheet member 15 may be appliedto the right end of theV body 11, asviewed in Fig. 5, for closing this right end, in the same way as wasdescribed above in connection with Fig. l. The toothpaste 3i) is shownin the cavity 13 in Fig. 5.

Instead of forming the brush member of the invention from a block ofresilient plastic material, the brush member may be in the form of acoil of resilient plastic material. Such an embodiment of the inventionis illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 where the brush body 22 is in the formof a coil of a Suitable iiexible resilient material such aspolyethylene. The convolutions 23 of the coil 22 are located closelyadjacent to each other so as to define the cavity 24 which correspondsto the cavity 13. Thus, the coil 22 forms an elongated body having acavity extending longitudinally along the same, and the upper portionsof the convolutions 23, as viewed in Figs. 6 and 7, provide portions ofthe body which are arranged in a row longitudinally along the body,which are separate from each other, and which allow material in thecavity 24 to move to the exterior of the body by passing between theconvolutions thereof. The ends of the elongated body 22 may be closed bysuitable sheet members 2S or the like glued or otherwise joined to theend convolutions. n

It will be notedthat the handle 26 which carries the body 22 is formedat its top face with an elongated groove 27 (Fig. 7) which provides aseat for the-brush body 22. it will be noted that the curvature of` thegroove 27 corresponds to the curvature of the elongated body 22 which isin the form of a coil, and this coil may be xed to the handle 26 vas 'oybeing glued thereto or as by being bonded theretoV by the use of asuitable solvent which may be usedwhen the handle 26 is made of .asuitable plastic material.

The embodiment of Figs. 6 and 7 is also extremely inexpensive and may beused in the same Way as the other embodiments of the inventionasdescribed above. However,.the` body 22' must be cut from an elongatedcoil, while such cutting is not necessary' with the body 11 4i which maybe molded very inexpensively in a single operation, as pointed outabove.

Of course, instead of toothpaste a suitable tooth powder may be locatedin the cavities 13 or 24.

A particular advantage of the brush of the invention resides in the factthat it is possible to very easily control the stiffness of the brushsimply by varying the thickness of the body portions 14 or convolutions23. Thus, where a relatively stili brush is desired the body portions 14and the convolutions 23 will be made relatively thick, While when arelatively soft brush is required the body portions 14 and theconvolutions 23 will be made relatively thin.

It will be understood that `each of the elements described above, or twoor more together, may also iind a useful application in other types ofbrushes diitering from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied inbrushes holding a charge of material to be applied by the brushes, it isnot intended to be limited to the details shown, since variousmodications and structural changes may be made without departing in anyWay Afrom the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist ofthe present invention that others can by applying current knowledgereadily adapt it tor various applications without omitting featuresthat, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essentialcharacteristics of the generic or spec-inc aspects of this inventionand, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to becomprehended Within the meaning and lrange of equivalence `of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. A brush comprising, in combination, an elongated' body of exibleresilient material formed with an elongated cavity extendinglongitudinally along said body between and terminating at the ends ofsaid body, said body having a plurality of portions spaced from eachother and arranged in a row extending longitudinally along said body,and said cavity of said body being defined at least in part by said bodyportions so that a material inl said cavity may move from said body;an-d an elongated handle tixed to and carrying said body, said handlehaving a free end portion extending into one end of said cavity andclosing the latter at said one end thereof.

2. A brush comprising, in combination, an elongated body of flexibleresilient material formed with an elongated cavity extendinglongitudinally along said body between and terminating at the ends ofsaid body, said body having a plurality of portions spaced from eachother and arranged in a row extending longitudinally along said body,and said cavity of said body being dened at least in part by said bodyportions so that a material in said cavity may move from the latterbetween said body portions to the exterior or" said body; and anelongated handle xed to and carrying said body, said handle having asubstantially U-shaped end portion one end of Whicheextends into saidcavity at an end of the latter for closing said cavity at saidu endthereof.

References Cited in the tile` of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS y

